


Bloodthirst

by RadioactiveWatermelon



Series: Bloodthirst [1]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Bulma is a badass, Drama, F/M, Mad scientist Bulma, My First Fanfic, OC is a bitch, Vegeta being Vegeta, Vegeta is lowkey an incel, bulma is a bitch, everyone is a bitch, looks like Vegeta needs counseling, two alphas collide, vegebul is my otp, vegeta has anger management issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:53:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27668477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadioactiveWatermelon/pseuds/RadioactiveWatermelon
Summary: After Raditz's death, Bulma learned that her power level was of 12 units and started training to fight the Saiyans. Millions of kilometers away from her, Prince Vegeta caught a glimpse of her lab on his scouter and decided he needed her mind at his service if he wanted to ever avenge his lost kingdom and his race.As she trains and later follows the Prince of all Saiyans to Planet Namek, Bulma discovers the thrill of combat, among other things...the first 2 chapters are extremely short, I pinky promise they'll get longer as the story goes.
Relationships: Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Vegeta (Dragon Ball)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Bloodthirst [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023157
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	1. The Saiyan crew

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: this work is not serious at all, there is no political or metaphysical meaning behind it+ I don't own any of the works I may refer to  
> Now that that's out of the way, I hope you'll enjoy this work as much as I liked writing it :) (bc honestly Vegebul= OTP)  
> Have a nice day sweet peas, & don't forget to stay hydrated, wash your hands, & leave a comment if you have any idea of development I could add

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of the works I may refer to, & my works don't have any underlying social, political or metaphysical message.  
> Now that that's out of the way, have a nice day sweet peas, wash your hands, stay hydrated, you know the deal <3

Chapter 1: The Saiyan crew  
**Pomranczaria desert, Planet Frieza 301 F**  
  
The last rebel was struck with a thunderous blast of ki. Nappa wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his gloved hand. That purge was particularly tedious, Frieza better be grateful for their work – not that the Saiyan team was in a position to haggle about their rewards.  
  
The shrill screams and agonizing cries they heard in purges were fading, as life left the bodies of the inhabitants of Planet Frieza 301 F. The Saiyans took one last look at the landscape, as a soothing silence succeeded to the deafening screams of their now dead victims.  
  
In appearance, it was like any desert planet, shades of yellow and orange, as if the sand was made of copper. The rolling hills before them looked like waves of melted gold in the morning sun, about to drown the bloody corpses resting on their surface.  
“I just had a message from Frieza,” declared Prince Vegeta, totally out of the blue, whilst reading it on his scouter. “From what I can understand, an interesting enough energy signature was found on some planet in quadrant C.”  
  
“What do you mean? Isn’t quadrant C inhabited?”  
  
“Apparently, there’s at least one interesting life form on it. And from what I understand in the ki analysis, it could be your long-lost brother, Raditz. Looks like your parents weren’t dumb enough to keep him with them.”  
  
“He was weak, so they sent him away. With all due respect, Your Highness, I don’t see how he could be of any use now.”  
  
“See, Raditz, you’re so narrow-minded. Maybe this mudball of a planet isn’t that uninteresting. He could have encountered some technologies or substances that made him strong enough.”  
  
“Does Frieza know the ki signature belongs to a Saiyan?”  
  
“Of course not. He just asked me to send someone to check it out, and make a report if there’s anything worth noticing on their planet. While the emissary does those reports, the rest of the team will have purges to do in quadrant K.”  
  
“Who will you send, Your Highness?”  
  
“Isn’t it obvious?”  



	2. bad news first

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: i don't own anything blah blah u know the deal  
> I hesitated whether i should wait or not, but I might as well post it now  
> Have a nice day sweet peas, & don't forget to stay hydrated, wash your hands, & leave a comment if you have any idea of development I could add

Chapter 2: Bad news first  
**Seven months later: House of the Briefs family, Planet Earth  
** “Hey, Bulma!”  
  
“What?”  
  
“I have some good news, and some bad news.”  
  
“Bad news first.”  
  
“Okay, so I have multiple pieces of bad news: short version, Goku is a Saiyan, an extraterrestrial – almost extinct – warrior race, he got killed by his brother, who also died, and Piccolo abducted Gohan. Oh, and the Saiyan that killed Goku and almost killed Piccolo is far less powerful than the two other that are coming in a year’s time, apparently to kill us all. And they may or may not know about the dragon balls.”  
  
“And… The good news is…?”  
  
“Goku’s brother – his name was Raditz – left this behind,” Krillin said, tossing Raditz’s shabby scouter on the table. “I know how you love to tinker with tech, so… I hope you will enjoy it. There’s also his space pod that crashed in some corn field. I’m sure you will love it.”  
  
“Before the other Saiyans bring our inevitable doom? It’s a feeble consolation, but thanks anyway,” she sighed. “We can’t even wish Goku back right now. The dragon balls aren’t functional at the moment.”  
  
He usually was the one to cheer her up, when she had such moments of despair. Seeing how uneased she was, Krillin explained her awkwardly that he had to leave for Goku’s house to inform Chichi of the situation. She let him go, and when he shut the door, took the scouter in her lab.  
  
“What can you tell me, honey?” she whispered, taking her tools out of their capsule. Upon scanning it, she found no explosive device or trap of any sort. She decided to test it for herself, placing it in front of her eye. It took a second for her eye to get used to the green screen, but she quickly got a hold of it. Upper right corner, battery information. Upper left corner, some numbers she didn’t understand, and at the bottom of the screen, some location. At first, she thought it was a device to track some materials, but when she stared at her own hand through the green lens, the number “12” appeared. So, she was a 12. Out of what? 20? 100? What did this engine measure?  
  
She grabbed her phone and dialed Krillin’s number.  
  
“Hey, are you here yet?”  
  
“No, I’m at Chi-Chi’s in 20 minutes. Doesn’t help that they live in the countryside! So how are things for you?”  
  
“Nothing that you aren’t aware of. Hey tell me, the tech thingy Goku’s brother had on his eye, did you see him use it?”  
  
“Oh, I’m glad it interests you after all! Well, he tapped on the button to the side and said we were powerless, or something about a level… Power level, that’s the phrase he used! He said his was of 1 500 units, from what I recall. Most of us were around 200. So, you can imagine the power imbalance.”  
  
“Sure, I can imagine.” She gritted her teeth.  
  
“Have you been able to crack it?”  
  
“Goddamn it Krillin, had I ‘cracked it’, I wouldn’t be calling you and asking about its very purpose!”  
  
“I’m sorry…”  
  
“I hope you are.” She hung up on him and tossed her phone on the table. T w e l v e. She had the infuriatingly low power level of twelve. Not even a tenth of a warrior’s strength. Not even a hundredth of what she needed. Of course, this dumb device didn’t measure intelligence, otherwise Krillin and the other ones would be the twelve and she would be on top of the list.  
  
Before Goku’s death, she never had to even consider fighting. But now that he was gone, and she had a whole year to train, she could at least try. She had a very useful piece of enemy technology, and she could use it to track her own progress, maybe find some data about the Saiyans. If she used this asset wisely, the Saiyans would barely stand a chance.


	3. change of plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi sweet peas, hope y'all have the time of your life rn  
> I'm posting a lot these days cause I'm about to disappear for a while, hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Change of plans  


**Meanwhile, Ship of the Saiyan crew**

  


The Saiyan’s ship was wandering in space, awaiting the next orders from Frieza. Vegeta was staring at the stars and planets through the ship’s round window. They looked like insects, desperately trying not to drown in the black void of space. How many of those planets had he cleared of their populations? He could see the last three he had purged: Frieza 029 K, 031 K and 048 K. All had rebels thinking they were special for standing proud against Frieza, all got smashed to the ground, nameless and forgotten.  
  
“What are we going to do now that Raditz is dead?” Nappa asked, interrupting Vegeta’s thoughts.  
  
“He was pathetically weak. At least, that scores a few points for his brother.” Vegeta shrugged. Who ever cared about Raditz? Even though he was a Saiyan, he always had been weak and a coward. He barely trained and made little progress. Vegeta could have taken him down as a toddler.  
  
“Didn’t he die?”  
  
“He sacrificed himself. Quite amusing. Anyway, Frieza isn’t interested in the planet anymore, now that they’re both dead, but he gave us permission to get to his ‘Earth’ to pay his family a visit, and end the planet’s population if the power levels are as low as it gets. We have a little itinerary, with a few missions along the way. I shouldn’t get bored.”  
  
“Did you get a glimpse of their planet?”  
  
“I just heard what they said, Raditz’s scouter can’t send images. However, I couldn’t help but hear a conversation between a weakling Raditz fought and some kind of mechanic. He has quite a shrill voice, but he seems decent when it comes to manipulating tech.”  
  
“Did you get any information about him?”  
  
“Only his ki signature and his location. He is unbelievably weak; his power level is twelve units high.”  
  
“We could bring him back to Frieza if his brains compensate for his weakness.”  
  
Vegeta sighed. They could. He had mostly met warriors, and the few scientists he ever talked to were the medics operating the regeneration tanks and the mechanics fixing the ships. He gave orders, they obeyed. It was all the science he needed in his life.  
Nothing more, especially not from someone whose power level was so pathetically low.  
  
“What did they say with those dragon balls? It seemed to interest you.”  
  
Prince Vegeta took off his scouter, making sure no eavesdropper would be able to spy on their conversation. He and Nappa both knew how Frieza always kept an eye on his troops, even during their private moments.  
  
“If they actually exist, and grant any wish we want, you understand I cannot disdain an occasion to dethrone the lizard. Now go make some food, we have a long travel ahead of us and I’m starving.”  
  
Nappa nodded and left Vegeta to his plans. Not having anything better to do, he adjusted his scouter and called Raditz. He heard some whispers, the clanking of tools, and an irritating background music, before immediately putting down the scouter. He couldn’t get much out of that mechanic.  
  
When he was about to leave to shower, he heard the light chime signaling the beginning of a video call. He put his scouter back on, and didn’t quite understand what was going on. He saw the inside of some kind of lab, and looked at the contact calling him: Raditz. The earthling had found a way, not only to send images, but to video call with a scouter, something he couldn’t do with his own, for it was forbidden to his rank. Only the Ginyu force and Frieza could video chat.  
  
“Bulma, you are a genius,” whispered a soft voice. Vegeta saw its owner: a young, blue-haired girl with bright azure eyes. He hesitated, not knowing if he should manifest himself, and remained still.  
  
“So, this thing can take videos. There could be a database with all the Saiyan faces in the known world. I wonder if- “ before she could end her sentence, the call was ended. Someone must have had pushed the wrong buttons while the blue-haired girl was toying with the scouter. She probably was the scientist’s mate, or his assistant.  
  
Vegeta grinned. He could spy on the earth scientist with his scouter. The earthling was waiting for them, looking for information on the Saiyans, but he had the upper hand. Even if the scientist, or his blue-haired partner, could find anything on them, he would know first.


	4. training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulma trains and prepares for the Saiyan's arrival. Meanwhile, they prepare their attack.

Training

**Three months later, Hyperbolic time chamber, planet Earth.**

****

****

“97, 98, 99, 100 push-ups,” Bulma counted mentally. “Now, the sit-ups…”  
She had managed to make everyone believe she had experiments to conduct in the hyperbolic time chamber, and no one would disturb her during the week she was spending there. After a day (well, a year, depending on the point of view) of intense training, her power level had – at last! – surpassed 100 units. Upon scanning herself, she found out that her power level slightly changed depending on the time of the day, the amount of exercise she had done, even the mood she was in. It was a bit difficult, but by the time her power level had reached 60, she managed to make it seem weaker, around 40. Maybe with even more experience, she could make her energy disappear and have the element of surprised for her. She had stopped scanning herself on the scouter and made a small bracelet that kept track of her energy at every instant, so she could measure her progress at all time. She still tampered with the scouter though, and found some interesting information about Saiyan anatomy: their weak spots, how they trained their tail, and she studied each and every piece of information she was given, even the part about how they took care of their hair (they didn’t). This information was part of a much larger database, with all kinds of alien species, where she could find the precise number of specimens, average power level, home planet, and so on.

An element that caught her attention was the Zenkai boost: when a Saiyan got his butt kicked, his power level rose during recovery, making a Saiyan more powerful every time he got defeated. If she found a way to copy it, she could give warriors the capacity to lessen their rest period in case of injury and grow more powerful in an exponential way. The sole perspective of being able to get so powerful made her heart flutter; she’d always been ambitious. And that kind of power, above everything she’d expected or experienced in her life, was now in her reach. Giddy as a schoolgirl, she had started taking a look at the Saiyan genes and the differences between human and Saiyan that made this boost possible; she even took advanced classes of biology, even though that wasn’t her field. She had to gather all the information at her disposition, because if she wanted to get as strong as the Saiyan warriors with her meek not-so-trained female body, the Zenkai boost was an opportunity not to miss – a necessity, even.

Obviously, a way for her to get her power level to 200 like the other Z warriors would be to try and master ki. But even though she craved power, she couldn’t even think of tinkering with such a destructive force. She had tried once, in her house, and formed a ball of ki, the size of a tennis ball. Not knowing what to do with it, she had tried putting it down on a table next to her, and had blown up half her dining room.

In her house, it was a torture for her to know she had a huge, unexploited potential, but no safe way for her to learn how to master it. She always had dinner, family gatherings, meetings, visits - not that she didn't like that. She loved the crowd, she loved being the center of attention, she loved knowing she was the best. But now, her sociability had retaliated; everyone expected her to help, all the time. She could never be alone, even for a little while.

That was why she felt at home in the hyperbolic time chamber. She could train there without thinking about her friends and what they would say. When she was with them, she was “the brains” and more importantly she was also “the girl”. She was the one to save, the one to protect, the one to undermine. “Don’t meddle with the enemy, you could get hurt. Don’t watch, he’s bleeding. Don’t stay here, we need you to grab your dragon ball radar. We have to save him, Bulma.” – had they ever praised her accordingly to her merits? Son Goku would still be a dumb farmer kid without her trying to gather the dragon balls in the first place. And now, he was the best warrior the planet had to offer. Oolong would have gotten killed by vengeful villagers without her and Goku's mercy. Yamcha would still be some kind of desert hobo/thief without her holding this team together. She was the cement of the crew, despite everything they said. And she was about to show just how important she was – and she would train alone, because she didn’t need the help of some pedophile on turtle island, or the instruction of scornful men who thought she’d never actually be strong.

Once, she had asked Yamcha if he had any advice for her on how to get stronger. He had laughed, saying that he would always be here to protect her. That she didn’t need to worry about him. Truth was, she didn’t really care about him. They had gotten together because he was a lonely guy and she was a lonely girl, they had stayed together because he didn’t want to leave and she didn’t have the time to explain why she didn’t love him. And now she was more or less stuck with that emotional, clingy, and probably unfaithful, poor excuse of a warrior.  
  
She always thought she had to end this when he showed up unannounced whilst she was working, showered her with attention and cheap thoughtless gifts, complained about her working and not caring about him, and disappeared for weeks, only to come back when she was at peace and she needed him the least. When she would be able to defeat him in combat, he would understand, she thought. In this team of brutes, she had to be strong to gain respect; being the smartest didn't matter anymore to them, especially if they had potential access to alien futuristic tech.

**Meanwhile, ship of the Saiyan crew**

Nappa had just finished making dinner – he’d just rehydrated some lyophilized unidentified food lying in the fridge, but the effort was there. Vegeta sat at the table, silent as ever. He barely talked, only when necessary. It had always been this way, Nappa recalled, even before his planet was destroyed. He talked and moved only when necessary, and despised every energy waste he witnessed. He saw competition in everything and everything was always at stake.

He ate his food without a single noise, probably thinking about some strategies or fighting techniques that he needed to improve.

Vegeta was thinking about the scientist, especially the scientist’s mate. Surely the scientist would refuse leaving without her – that often happened, having to separate some pairs because one was utterly useless. Lately, he had not been able to get the slightest glimpse of the scientist’s lab – once he’d seen a flashing image, but it was so fast it could only be a dysfunction. Humans were much slower than him. He’d intended calling too, but the image was distorted. The only logical explanation he could find was that the scientist’s experiment had damaged his scouter, or that scouters did not age the same on earth. From a planet to another, time was harsh and harmful, or slow and painless; it all depended on the dance of the planets around their stars.

He turned off his scouter; Nappa did the same thing by reflex. Then he raised his head, and looked at Nappa with a face as stern and serious as ever. He decided he would take the scientist’s mate; even if she would be a waste of oxygen and probably deconcentrating, it would be good for blackmail. Furthermore, Frieza always enjoyed a new, exotic slave. It would help him keep his trust.

“When you reach earth, I will fight the warriors alone and you take another pod to go and collect the scientist. You will tell about Frieza and why we need to destroy him”, Vegeta bluntly ordered.

Nappa stared at him, mouth agape, in a mix of dismay and surprise, taken aback by the Prince's words. “Wait, you want to betray Frieza?”

“When we were at his PTO base a few days ago, I overheard a conversation between Dodoria and some other rat. Now We can be sure planet Vegeta’s destruction was Frieza’s doing.”

“I will always be at your service, Your Highness, but… Do you think it will suffice, telling the earthling about our own planet? I don’t think he will feel very involved…”

“Humans are great empaths. Remember how Kakarott let Raditz go when he said he regretted what he had done?" A short silence followed his rethorical question. Vegeta added: "You can take his mate, only if he doesn't comply. We'll use it for blackmail. But I'd rather have her dead. And if it doesn’t work, tell him what I will do to her planet and its population. You know me well enough.”

This last sentence was a half-truth, as always – Nappa only knew about his behavior, but he never was able to understand how he could be emotionless, never listening to his basic instincts, always putting his pride first. However, if he just had to describe how Prince Vegeta could enslave a whole planet and purge it in the most heartless way possible, Nappa had a few examples in mind that would make the earth scientist cooperate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: this work is not serious at all, there is no political or metaphysical meaning behind it+ I don't own any of the works I may refer to  
> Now that that's out of the way, I hope you'll enjoy this work as much as I liked writing it :) (bc honestly Vegebul= OTP)  
> Have a nice day (& nice holidays!!!) sweet peas, & don't forget to stay hydrated, wash your hands, & leave a comment if you have any idea of development I could add


	5. Small fry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vegeta spies on Bulma in her lab, making plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi lovelies, it's been a while!  
> I've been working a lot lately, but don't worry I haven't forgotten about my OTP. I just have trouble with the beginning, so the pacing is gonna be kinda weird.  
> Hope you enjoy anyway!

**Ship of the Saiyan crew, first training room**  
Vegeta threw a few punches in the air, he was dripping with sweat. He’d been training restlessly for days on end. He knew he could just threaten to destroy Planet Earth with a flick of his wrist, but still, he had to take every tiny opportunity to fight that was presented to him if he wanted to get strong enough to defeat Frieza one day. And he would defeat him. He would not remain a servant, he would not be seen as a convenient pet. He was a prince. The most glorious royal blood of the last Saiyan dynasty flew through his veins, and he was one of the last of his kind. Maybe a couple more Saiyans were hidden somewhere in the universe, but it was his mission, as the prince of his race, to free himself from the emperor’s clutches, to restore the Saiyan name. No other Saiyan warrior could do it anyway. He was the most powerful, and the most deserving. He had trained more. He had wanted this more. He had fought, tortured, killed, waiting to fight, torture and kill the right person when the time would come.

He knew he couldn’t delay his attack on Frieza. He was quite sure he’d lost all credit after taking the initiative of going to earth.

“By the way, Your Highness, what’s your plan to get the dragon balls?”

“Find them, kill anyone standing in my way, make my wish. It’ll be small fry.”

“What about Frieza?”

Vegeta smiled slyly. “You’ll see. Now leave.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Vegeta smirked and went to pick up his scouter. He turned it on as soon as he was sure Nappa could not hear him – or her – and called Raditz. He did not see the scientist, just his blue-haired mate. And that was all he wanted to see for now.  
The scouter glitched a bit. But he could see she wore an oversized, white, unbuttoned lab coat. A golden necklace shone between her clavicles. He caught a glimpse of her cleavage, but she was moving the scouter around so quickly that he barely made it out.

“Why is it beeping now?” she asked. Dumb female. He hoped she would not call her man to fix it, for he would surely understand what was happening. Thankfully, she didn’t, no, she just stared at the scouter with a meditative expression, like she could understand that sophisticated piece of tech.

She looked so weak; he could break her in two with a flick of his wrist. Yet she walked around the lab like she owned the place. She had a sassy and ambitious smile on her face. She was defiant and he hated it, or he liked it, he was not sure yet. Actually, he was sure of one thing: he would enjoy killing her when all of this would be over.

He had called her a few times already, planning the day he would seize her along with her mate. He always saw her, never the man whom she called a genius – the Briefs guy. She always worked, poor thing – a jewel like her should glimmer behind a glass for everyone to admire, rather than walk around in ugly work-clothes. Call after call, he caught glances of his lab, which rendered him able to make a mental image of the scientist’s environment. He relished having access to their tech, he relished being in power, able to conquer the freedom he had longed for.

She pushed a couple buttons and it stopped beeping, but the call did not stop. He still could see her and his lab. He could not wait to ravish her, stealing her from the scientist to make her his and submit both of them. He’d already done it with a few warlords, submit their mates to show his power. Not that he especially enjoyed the women, he just loved the defeated warriors’ faces when they saw their wives kneeling before another man.

But the scientist would probably not cooperate if his woman was in danger, he thought. Maybe this species was a bit evolved – he hoped so. He would probably have to leave the woman untouched.

However, if he had to take her on the ship, she’d be a waste of oxygen. He wanted the scientist to cooperate, and the scientist – Bulma Briefs, was that it? - wouldn’t do so if his mate was not safe, obviously. Vegeta had to make sure she wouldn’t be out and about in the ship, or Nappa would hurt her, if he did not do so himself. They were Saiyans after all. They had to keep her somewhere safe. Or force her to keep a secret. After all, this was his mission. He could treat himself, couldn’t he?

Maybe he would not gift this one to Frieza after all. Maybe he would keep her to himself.


	6. The kidnappa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kidNappa: (n). brawny mustached Saiyan warrior that happens to be a kidnapper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tysm for the feedback! I appreciate your comments so much!
> 
> Also, this chapter is longer than usual, I hope I didn't stretch it out too much, but I'm trying to write longer chapters w/ more detail.

**One year after Raditz's death**  
**Planet Earth**

The fight had begun, but Bulma wouldn’t even bother watching it.

She had decided she would stay home, in her lab, and come help them only if things got out of hand; she'd asked Krillin to call her if they needed help. She knew Goku would come fight the Saiyans anyway, so why bother? Even though she wanted to fight, she had many other things to deal with. She had to test her space ship, in case she wanted to pay the Saiyans a visit if they managed to leave Earth. Her sister would be interested, she’d started working for the Galactic patrol. Apparently, they were interested in Bulma’s talents.  
The problem was they were an informal patrol and had no actual communication device, or at least, not yet ; it was hard for Bulma and tights to keep in touch. She had promised she would find a way to fix it, and now was the time, especially if the Galactic patrol could fight the Saiyans as payback.

She had started working on an interplanetary transmitter, but it barely worked. The signals she sent or received were always blurred by many interferences, and barely understandable. While she was changing the setting, she realized it could be because her lab walls were too thick. She left her lab and went outside to test her transmitter, using the scouter as a reference, because it allowed transmission from one end if the Galaxy to the other.

Maybe if she could finish that transmitter in time, she’d be able to reach out to the Galactic Patrol and have them arrest the Saiyans.  
She sat down on a table set in the lawn of Capsule Corp. She loved working there, where everything happened and no one bothered her; it was like working in the kitchen when her mother prepared a feast for her dad’s friends. She could see everyone come and go, deliver, pay, test, walk by, report, but nobody interrupted her work because they were all busy. She felt like a monarch looking at its good people, and she loved it. Her decision to move from her lab to her lawn proved as efficient as it had been enjoyable; in a few hours, she had finished working on the transmitter and was finally able to call the Galactic Patrol office.

However, as soon as her sister was on the line, she hung up. There was someone in the sky, and she'd never seen that figure.

As soon as she saw that flying silhouette between the clouds above her, she lowered her power level to its initial 12. She couldn’t risk an enemy knowing her true potential. The silhouette stopped moving above the Briefs house. They were tracking Raditz’s scouter, she was sure of it.

Now that the unidentified flying person (?) was drawing closer to her, she could see the warrior was a tall, bald, mustached man, with an armor she had never seen on anyone but Raditz. Fucking hell, she thought as he landed in front of her, it’s a Saiyan.

“You. Tell me where scientist Bulma Briefs is.”

Bulma would have liked the huge warrior to at least say “please”, but she was in no position to argue. She could feel he had a power level of thousands of units, far superior to hers. “You’re talking to her. What do you want from me?”

“My mistake, I thought Bulma Briefs was a man.”

“I am not,” she corrected, slightly irritated. “Is that all?”

“No. I will need you to follow me to my ship. Do you have an assistant and/or a spouse?”

“No! And why should I – FUCK!”

Before she could make a move to defend herself, the Saiyan had taken her in his arms and lifted her above the ground. He carried her on his shoulder like a potato sack. He flew for a few kilometers, before they got in front of his ship in the middle of a barren wasteland. There was no place for her to run or hide, maybe a couple piles of rocks here and there.

“Wait,” he commanded, before tapping a couple buttons on the side of his scouter. “I have the scientist. Do you need anything else, Your Highness?”  
Your Highness? Bulma heard a hoarse, grumpy voice emerging from the scouter, and then there were a couple insults. She could make out some words the voice said: Nappa, a couple of insults, something about… a fight? That voice had to belong to the guy the Z warriors had encountered and fought. Had he lost? Oh boy, that was getting juicy.

While she was starting to indulge in wishful thinking, her phone chimed. She took it out of her pocket: it was a text from Krillin. She turned her screen on and held back a gasp whilst reading his text. Piccolo, Chiaotzu, Tien and Yamcha were dead. Dead for good; if Piccolo was deceased, that meant they couldn’t use the dragon balls. Not juicy.  
Why didn't Krillin call her? She'd told him to do so! Didn't he trust her? Did he think she couldn't help?

A minute later, while the Saiyan warriors were still talking, another text followed. She didn’t need to worry, because they had won, Goku had risen from the dead and the Saiyans had fled. Although she was relieved her childhood friend was still alive, and strong enough to protect their planet, the fact that the Saiyans were still alive and well terrorized her. Especially since the one next to her was far stronger than what she’d expected.

“You killed my friends,” she grumbled, glaring daggers at the fighter. “What the fuck do you want from me?”

“Look. My name is Nappa, I believe you already know I’m a Saiyan warrior. I come to you on behalf of His Highness the Prince of all Saiyans. We need your help, for he believes you are a fine scientist.”

“He’s not wrong, I am the best.” Modesty had never been her gig. “But what does that have to do with me being here?”

“We are fighting a common enemy.”

“I seriously doubt it. You are the greatest threat that ever came to my planet. And as far as I know, there is no other threat than you in the whole universe.”

The fighter turned his scouter off. Was he afraid he’d be spied on?

“Earthling, no threat is greater than Lord Frieza, galactic emperor. He is more or less the ruler of the explored part of our galaxy. He is far more ruthless and powerful than Prince Vegeta and I combined.”

“Why should I care? No one even heard of him on this planet before you showed up. Bring me back to my house, I have my own problems to deal with,” she commanded.

“Listen to me! If we don’t get your help, he is going to kill us, not that you care about it, but once we’re dead, he will wipe out the quadrant your planet happens to be in. And it will take him little to no effort.”

Now, that was something else. To imagine someone more evil that the Saiyans, that was impossible for her.

“Are you sure my knowledge would be enough to help you defeat him?” she hesitantly asked.

“The Prince is certain you’re an essential asset. I trust his judgement.”

She bit her lip. If she agreed, she put herself in danger, getting so close to the Saiyans and that emperor. But, on the other hand, she would get the time to study how the Saiyans fought and how to beat them at their own game while they were preparing to fight Frieza. Maybe she would be able to find a way to experiment with their DNA. Study their weak spots more precisely.

“I will help you, but you have to promise not to kill any earthling or damage my planet afterwards. It will be the only payment I will ask for.”

Nappa did not even hesitate; he nodded and accepted Bulma’s demand without further ado. Though he could have negotiated - he knew Vegeta would have loved to destroy this planet, especially if it was a trace of a fight he'd almost lost - he decided it would be better to save everyone's strength. If the scientist accepted working for them without being threatened, killing earthlings just for fun would be useless.

“You have my word. And I know I can speak on behalf of Prince Vegeta.”

What was the worth of a Saiyan’s word? Bulma smiled anyway, letting Nappa believe she was satisfied with his promise. She excused herself and stole away to call Krillin without the Saiyan eavesdropping on their conversation. She was far enough from the Saiyan: he could see that she didn’t escape, but could not hear what was said.

“Hey Bulma, you okay?”

“As a matter of fact, no. I just got kidnapped by a Saiyan called Nappa. That’s a weird name, uh?”

“Wait, they didn’t leave the planet yet?”

“No, they said they needed me or something.”

“Did he hurt you? Do you have the radar?”

“No to both, why? The dragon balls don’t work anymore. Why do you need my radar?”

“There are some on planet Namek, they have the same composition. The Saiyans want the dragon balls to grant Vegeta immortality. We need to get there first and wish everyone back.”

“Fine. I have made three, one of which is at the Kame house, in the second guest room’s press, top drawer. The others are at my home, one in my bedroom and the other in my lab.”

“Do you think you could make one just for me? With my name on it?”

“Krillin, do you seriously think that being kidnapped by some evil aliens looking for dragon balls, I am able to make you a customized dragon ball radar? Get the one in Kame house, for heaven’s sake! And you can borrow the spaceship I made with scraps of Raditz’s pod. It’s in the second garage, between the Red Ferrari and the Mustang. Ask my father for the keys.”

“You have a Red Ferrari? Like Magnum and Danny Wilde? Why didn’t I-“

“Shut up, Krillin, and GET THAT SHIP BEFORE I ESCAPE FROM THE SAIYAN’S CLUTCHES AND STRANGLE YOU MYSELF!” she yelled, absolutely furious. The nerve of this guy! Ugh!

“Okay, uh, see you. You try to slow them down, okay? We’ll free you as soon as we recover.”

Bulma hung up before Krillin could upset her any further. She liked her friends, but sometimes, their attempts to protect her were just infantilizing – and in general, counterproductive. Their willingness to help her even when she was already handling the situation by herself had gotten them in trouble more than once and often worsened the situation. She was a genius, even if she was physically weaker, she’d always been able to take care of herself. At least, if she was going to overpower the Saiyans, her friends would cut her some slack.

She was so angry at them. Maybe if they'd called her, she could have helped. She was not as weak as they thought. At least the Saiyans valued her help, she thought. Working for them would definately be more interesting than being "the girl" on the Z warrior's team.

She had to find these dragon balls and prove she was worthy.


End file.
